Updated: Miracles in the military’s Thailand

PPT doesn’t believe in miracles. In Thailand, however, a series of “miracles” have occurred. More precisely, they seem to to have been manufactured under the auspices of the military dictatorship.

The first is a recurring “miracle.” The king’s health has improved for the umpteenth time. In a short report attributed to the Royal Household Bureau. It says the king’s “blood and phlegm were checked by a team of doctors at Siriraj Hospital. An X-ray found fluid in the King’s lung had reduced and there was no inflammation.” It adds that a “pulse examination by echocardiography found the functioning of [the king’s] … cardiac muscle was satisfactory.”

The second “miracle” was entirely predictable (which denies miracle status, but the story is still miraculous). The military’s laundry or the National Anti-Corruption Commission has “unanimously agreed that there was no graft in the Rajabhakti [Corruption] Park project in Hua Hin…”. Of course there wasn’t! The junta has said that from the beginning, despite evidence to the contrary including from General Udomdej Sitabutr.

The NACC “agreed unanimously that all procedures carried out under the project had met regulatory requirements…”. We don’t believe it could have found otherwise as the case involved junta members.

The third miracle is the jailing of Sondhi Limthongkul. His crime did not relate to anything about the illegal activities of his People’s Alliance for Democracy, for which he deserves years in prison. Rather it relates to just one of his allegedly fraudulent business deals from the 1990s. That said, his 20 year sentence seems way out of line with the sentences given to a handful of 1990s business crooks.

Many felt Sondhi was “protected” because of his work for the royalists, making them a political movement, and the role he played in getting rid of Thaksin Shinawatra in 2006. We have posted previously that we felt the military was uncomfortable with all populists – Thaksin, Sondhi and Suthep Thaugsuban. Two of these have been pushed aside and out on political ice. We await news of the Suthep “miracle.”

Update: A reader rightly points out that, despite the “miracle recovery” for the king, that reports have stated that the king’s health remains precarious. One states:

… the king is receiving continuous renal replacement therapy, a treatment for critically ill patients with acute kidney failure. It said Bhumibol is still producing insufficient urine.